Broadcasting: Re-transmission Fees

Baroness Scott of Needham Market: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans, as part of consultations on the draft Communications Bill or otherwise, to review the "must offer" obligation and the level of payment required from the BBC to BSkyB in exchange for the broadcast of BBC programmes on BSkyB platforms.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: The question of re-transmission fees (paid by broadcasters such as the BBC to platforms such as BskyB) will be considered in the communications review Green Paper to be published early this year.

Child Maintenance

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many users of the Child Support Agency make child maintenance payments by four-weekly direct debit.

Lord Freud: As at December 2011, the total number of cases where payments are made to the commission by direct debit is 116,900. It is not possible to determine accurately the frequency of payment.
	In addition, 178,700 cases have a maintenance direct arrangement in place. Maintenance direct is an arrangement for child maintenance, based on the Child Support Agency's calculations, that is paid and received by parents directly between themselves. However, it is not known whether the payment is made by direct debit or by another method of collection.
	These figures can be found in the Child Support Agency's quarterly summary of statistics at the following link: http://www.childmaintenance.org/en/pdf/qss/QSS_ dec_2011.pdf.

Child Maintenance

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government to how many parents, otherwise liable for child maintenance, the nil rate is applied by the Child Support Agency.

Lord Freud: As of December 2011, the number of cases with nil liability stands at 264,200. This information is routinely published in the Child Support Agency quarterly summary of statistics, which are available through the following link: http://www.childmaintenance. org/en/pdf/qss/QSS_dec_2011.pdf.

Child Support Agency

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many complaints the Child Support Agency is currently dealing with.

Lord Freud: As of December 2011, the number of cases with nil liability stands at 264,200. This information is routinely published in the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics which is available through the following link: http://www.childmaintenance.org/en/pdf/qss/QSS_dec_2011.pdf.

Cosmetic Interventions

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to introduce mandatory regulation of the cosmetic surgery and cosmetic interventions industry, and on what basis the voluntary system of regulation of this industry is predicated.

Earl Howe: We have asked Sir Bruce Keogh, the National Health Service medical director, to lead a review into all aspects of the regulation of cosmetic surgery and other cosmetic interventions with the potential to cause harm, and we cannot pre-empt the outcomes of that review. Many aspects of cosmetic treatment are already subject to statutory regulation: for instance, hospitals and clinics that provide cosmetic surgery are regulated by the Care Quality Commission; and cosmetic implants are subject to the European Union's medical devices directives.

Disabled People: Personal Independence Payment

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether examining medical practitioners' examinations in the homes of disabled persons will, as part of the personal independence payment (PIP) system, be replaced with assessments at Atos assessment centres such as those currently carried out for employment and support allowance assessments; and what consultation they have had with those eligible for PIP and the organisations that represent them regarding changes to such assessments.

Lord Freud: For most individuals a key part of the assessment for personal independence payment will be a face-to-face assessment with a health professional. This will allow an in-depth look at their circumstances and give individuals the opportunity to put across their own views of the impact of their impairment on their everyday lives. However, we recognise that they may not be appropriate for everyone. For example, we will not be expecting people who are claiming under the terminal illness provisions to attend consultations or where we have already gathered sufficient evidence from other sources on which to carry out the assessment.
	In developing our proposals for delivering personal independence payment we are seeking to learn from the experience of delivering the work capability assessment, including looking at the findings of the Harrington reviews, and from customer insight work. This will help to ensure that the process is fair, empathetic and supportive to individuals. We are also working closely with organisations representing disabled people and have set up a dedicated group to help us design delivery arrangements for the benefit. We intend to discuss issues around the operation of the assessment with this group in the near future.
	No decisions have yet been taken on where face-to-face consultations will be carried out-for example, in claimants' homes, assessment centres or other locations. This will depend in part on the outcome of the tendering process, which will determine who will deliver the assessments. The department is in the process of tendering for a framework of providers to deliver future health and disability assessments. A competition amongst framework providers for the PIP assessment will then commence. We envisage this being completed by summer 2012.
	As part of the tendering process we will ask potential providers to set out their proposals for delivering face-to-face consultations, including where these will be carried out. We will make clear to them that their proposals will need to reflect the needs of disabled people and that they must put in place arrangements to visit claimants in their own homes where they are unable to travel to other locations.

Economy: Quantitative Easing

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of the value of the benefit to the profits of Barclays Bank plc of quantitative easing and of the implicit state guarantee of the bank.

Lord Sassoon: The Government do not comment on the effect of quantitative easing on specific firms.

Egypt, Tunisia and Libya: Frozen Funds

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 31 January (WA 304), whether they will seek the agreement of the United Nations and the European Union to lift asset-freezing in respect of Tunisia.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The European Union (EU) introduced a one-year asset freeze with effect from 4 February 2011 in order to prevent the disbursement of misappropriated Tunisian state funds. This is a decision made at EU level; the lifting of the EU sanctions regime would require agreement to do so by all 27 EU member states. The EU has recently agreed to extend the freeze for a further year following agreement by all EU member states including the UK.
	It is our strong belief that any illegally acquired assets removed from Tunisia should, following due legal process, be repatriated. UK effort is currently focused on supporting this process. We are in contact with the Tunisian Government about how to take this forward as quickly as possible. We will keep the matter under review as events progress.
	There are no United Nations sanctions in force relating to Tunisia.

EU: Taxation

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 7 February (WA 58), whether a financial transaction tax introduced by eurozone nations, either individually or collectively, could be levied on transactions executed in the United Kingdom.

Lord Sassoon: No proposal for a euro area financial transaction tax exists.
	Sovereign Governments can, and do, impose taxes based on the residency principle. Such taxes could, in theory, be applied to transactions executed in the United Kingdom by institutions resident in the euro area but only if this complied with existing EU law, including that relating to the single market.

Finance: Lending

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to address the decline in lending to private non-financial corporations.

Lord Sassoon: At the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a package of credit easing interventions worth up to £21 billion to improve the flow of credit to businesses that do not have ready access to capital markets. We will be releasing more information regarding credit easing at Budget.

Government Departments: Accountancy

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many written instructions have been provided by Ministers in the Department for Education to the Accounting Officer for the department in accordance with paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code in the past two years; and for what reasons.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Ministers in the Department for Education have not provided any written instructions to the accounting officer for the department in the past two years.

Government Departments: Accountancy

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Wilcox on 7 February (WA 40-1), how many ministerial directions to accounting officers under paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code have been made since the general election in 2010; and in which government departments.

Lord Sassoon: There have been no ministerial directions issued since the general election in 2010.

Government Departments: Bonuses

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, for each of the next three years for which figures are available and according to Civil Service band, how many people are eligible to receive performance and special bonuses in the Cabinet Office; how many people they estimate will receive each type of bonus; what they estimate will be the average payment for each type of bonus; and what they estimate will be the maximum payment for each type of bonus.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: For the Senior Civil Service (SCS), under the framework set by the Cabinet Office, non-consolidated performance pay for the SCS for performance in 2011-12 will be restricted to the top 25 per cent of performers. Individual payments will be capped.
	a maximum of £10,000 for deputy directors;a maximum of £12,500 for directors; anda maximum of £15,000 for director generals.
	It is not yet possible to estimate the average payment for 2011-12. Special (in-year) bonuses are not paid to the SCS. Performance pay policy for 2012-13 and 2013-14 will form part of the formal submission of government evidence to the Senior Salaries Review Body in the autumn of 2012.
	For staff below the SCS, non-consolidated awards are negotiated annually with the departmental trade union as part of the collective bargaining process in line with HMT remit guidance that is yet to be published for 2012-13 or subsequent years. Information on plans for non-SCS staff is therefore not available for future years.
	In previous years an element of the Cabinet Office's overall pay award has been allocated to non-consolidated awards related to performance. These payments are used to drive high performance and form part of the pay award for members of staff who demonstrate exceptional performance, for example by exceeding targets set or meeting challenging objectives.

Government: Ministerial Visits

Lord German: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many ministerial visits there have been since May 2010 to (1) Armenia, (2) Georgia, and (3) Azerbaijan.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Since May 2010 there have been (1) no ministerial visits to Armenia (2) one visit to Georgia by the Minister for International Security Strategy at the Ministry of Defence, my honourable friend the Member for Aldershot (Mr Howarth) in June 2011 and (3) two visits to Azerbaijan, in October 2010 by the Minister for Europe, my right honourable friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), and in September 2011 the Minister of State at the Department for Energy and Climate Change, my honourable friend the Member for Wealden (Mr Hendry).

Government: Ministerial Visits

Lord German: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many ministerial visits are planned for 2012 to (1) Armenia, (2) Georgia, and (3) Azerbaijan.

Lord Howell of Guildford: There are plans for Ministers to visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan in 2012. However, ministerial visits are often subject to change. Therefore details cannot be confirmed at this stage.

Gypsies and Travellers

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of European Roma resident in England and Wales; and why the ministerial working group on preventing and tackling inequalities experienced by Gypsies and Travellers did not cover that population.

Baroness Hanham: There are no reliable estimates for the number of European Roma resident in England and Wales. Entrants to the United Kingdom are not monitored by ethnic origin.
	Roma were not excluded from the remit of the ministerial working group and come into scope where the issues overlap those of Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers.

House of Lords: Allowances

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask the Chairman of Committees, in the light of the non-alignment of the recess dates for the House of Commons and the House of Lords and the interaction between members of both Houses, including meetings with Ministers, whether he will instigate a review of the basis on which members of the House of Lords who live far from London may be reimbursed for travel to Westminster on parliamentary business.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: Financial support for Members is a matter for the House Committee and such a proposal would need to be considered by that Committee. No such proposal has been submitted to the House Committee and I do not intend to instigate a review.

House of Lords: Prayers

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask the Chairman of Committees whether the ruling in the High Court concerning the saying of prayers at the start of meetings of Bideford Council has implications for the saying of prayers in the House of Lords.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: The High Court ruling has no implications for the practice of saying prayers in the House of Lords. The form and conduct of prayers are matters for the House alone.

International Monetary Fund

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 6 February (WA 14), whether they have advised the International Monetary Fund that they will not agree to make a bilateral, as opposed to quota, contribution to the fund to fund payments to or for the benefit of individual eurozone member states.

Lord Sassoon: As the Chancellor of the Exchequer has said, the UK, as a long-standing supporter of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), stands ready to play its part in a global agreement to increase IMF resources.
	As yet, there is no international agreement on the timing, extent or exact method through which any increase to IMF resources would be delivered.
	However, the Chancellor has also been clear that any new UK contribution to the IMF will be a contribution to the IMF's resources for its entire membership and not to a new vehicle or fund for the euro area.

NHS: Primary Care Trusts

Lord Hoyle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the staffing levels at each primary care trust in Lancashire in the 2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12 financial years.

Earl Howe: Information showing the number of staff for each primary care trust in Lancashire, for the years 2009, 2010 and 2011, has been placed in the Library.

Pensions

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Garden of Frognal on 24 January (WA 219), when the BBC last updated them on the operation of its pension scheme; what the communication covered; and why they are not privy to any BBC pension information that is not placed in the public domain.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: The BBC last updated the Government on the operation of its pension scheme in summer 2010. Reference to the pension scheme was included in a briefing meeting on the content of the BBC's annual report and accounts.
	Within the framework of its charter and agreement, the BBC is editorially and operationally independent and there is no provision for the Government to intervene in the BBC's day-to-day activities. The Government are fully committed to the BBC's independence and will not undertake any action that undermines this. On that basis, the Government do not have any requirement for pension scheme information that is not in the public domain.

Religious Groups: Dietary Requirements

Lord Singh of Wimbledon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that the dietary requirements of a minority faith (such as halal) are not imposed on others by public bodies and other large commercial organisations.

Baroness Verma: Responsibility for meeting the dietary requirements of those who use their services is a matter for each public authority or commercial organisation, subject to the law and (in the case of public bodies) any relevant duties to consult, and to meet the needs of, their users.

Schools: Closures

Lord Fearn: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many schools were closed in Sefton in Merseyside during 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The table below sets out the number of maintained mainstream schools that have closed in Sefton in Merseyside for the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. The table shows figures only for schools that have closed and have not been replaced. It excludes any technical closures, i.e. those schools that as a result of a change of status, character or a merger with another school are technically closed and then are reopened.
	
		
			  2009 2010 2011 
			 School Closures 0 1 0

Schools: Free Schools

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many free schools have been established since May 2010; and what was the category of sponsor in each case.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The first 24 free schools opened in September 2011. The proposers of these schools were not sponsors as such. Five were set up by teachers, nine were set up by parent or community groups, five were set up by existing education providers, and one by an existing academy. Five existing schools also became free schools.
	
		
			 Free School Type of Proposal 
			 Aldborough E-ACT Free School Academy Sponsor 
			 All Saints Junior School Academy Sponsor 
			 Ark Atwood Primary Academy Academy Sponsor 
			 Ark Conway Primary Academy Academy Sponsor 
			 Batley Grammar School Existing School 
			 Bradford Science Academy Teacher Group 
			 Bristol Free School Parent or Community Group 
			 Canary Wharf College Teacher Group 
			 Discovery New School Teacher Group 
			 Eden Primary School Parent or Community Group 
			 Etz Chaim Primary School Parent or Community Group 
			 Krishna Avanti Primary School Parent or Community Group 
			 Langley Hall Primary Academy Teacher Group 
			 Maharishi School Existing School 
			 Moorlands Free School Existing School 
			 Nishkam Free School Parent or Community Group 
			 Priors Free School Exsisting School 
			 Rainbow Free School Parent or Community Group 
			 Sandbach School Existing School 
			 St Luke's Church of England Primary School Parent or Community Group 
			 Stour Valley Community School Parent or Community Group 
			 The Free School, Norwich Teacher Group 
			 West London Free School Parent or Community Group 
			 Woodpecker Hall Primary Academy Existing Academy

Schools: Registration

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many independent (1) special, (2) primary, and (3) secondary, schools are currently registered with the Department for Education; and how many there were in 2010 and 2011.

Lord Hill of Oareford: There were 2,443 independent schools registered with the Department for Education on 3 February 2012, excluding academies and free schools. Of these, 441 were specially organised for special educational needs (SEN). As the age ranges of independent schools vary considerably, it is not possible to give separate numbers of primary and secondary schools. In 2010 there were 2,412 schools, of which 497 were specially organised for SEN; and in 2011 there were 2,418 schools of which 459 were specially organised for SEN.

Turkey

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Turkey about their blocking of websites, including YouTube, Geocities, Dailymotion, Google and the YouTube page of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government have not made representations about the blocking of the websites mentioned. However, our embassy in Ankara regularly raises issues relating to media freedom in the context of wider discussions on human rights with its Turkish counterparts. We share the concerns raised in the 2010 OSCE (the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) report on freedom of the media and internet censorship and the 2011 European Union progress report, calling for improved access to the internet in Turkey. Turkey attended the London conference on cyberspace in November 2011, where there was general affirmation that cyberspace should remain open to innovation and the free flow of information.

Waste Management: Food

The Earl of Selborne: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to implementing a long-term ban on food waste being consigned to landfill by waste collectors.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government's long-term vision is that no food waste goes to landfill.
	We are committed to working with industry and helping consumers to reduce food waste and move it up the waste hierarchy. At present, we have no plans to ban food waste being sent to landfill. We have committed to reviewing the case for restrictions on sending particular materials to landfill over the course of this Parliament, including looking specifically at textiles and biodegradable waste. Before bringing forward proposals on restricting other materials, the Government will need to be content that restrictions are the best-value way of moving material up the waste hierarchy and that the costs to businesses and the public sector are affordable.
	We are taking action to divert food waste from landfill, including by producing a new voluntary agreement with the hospitality and food service sector. This seeks to prevent food and packaging waste and to manage the waste that does arise more sustainably. We aim to launch this agreement in the spring.
	We are also working through the Government's anaerobic digestion (AD) strategy and action plan to bring about an increase in energy from waste through AD, including from food waste. As part of this, a £10 million AD loan fund announced last year supports the development of AD capacity able to divert 300,000 tonnes of food waste from landfill annually. In January, we offered the first loan under the fund of £800,000 towards a new AD plant in Wiltshire, which will initially digest up to 17,000 tonnes of food waste a year.